Rockford public schools reporting higher reading scores on ISATs

ROCKFORD — Rockford schools continue to struggle when it comes to meeting state standards, but new test scores are revealing a couple of silver linings.

More Rockford public school students are reading at or above state benchmarks than two years ago, and all four high schools scored higher in reading with three scoring higher in math than two years ago.

The Rockford School District released state test scores Monday from the 2013 Illinois Standards Achievement Test, given to third- through eighth-graders in the spring, and the Prairie State Achievement Exam, given to high school juniors.

The state will release scores for all Illinois public schools next week. It applied higher performance expectations to elementary and middle school students this year, which caused ISAT scores to plummet statewide.

Comparing this year's scores to previous years will prove difficult unless school districts do as Rockford did, which was go back and apply higher performance expectations to past scores.

The Rockford School District did a three-year analysis.

Of Rockford's 42 schools, 39 excluding charter schools:

Twenty-three had more students meeting or exceeding state standards in reading than two years ago.

Seven schools have 50 percent or more students meeting or exceeding state standards in math

Nine schools have 50 percent or more students meeting or exceeding state standards in math.

District leaders are categorizing the results of the analysis as "pockets of success," reflective of recent years' efforts to increase enrichment and intervention.

"It tells me we're on the right track with reading, and our high schools are doing great," said Dan Woestman, assistant superintendent of accountability.

The new way of calculating scores in the lower grades should help districts identify students who aren't on track to succeed in work or college at an earlier age. In previous years, Woestman said, high schools did a good job of that — because of the PSAE's alignment with the ACT — but elementary and middle schools did not.

"The new scores should allow us to do more focused early intervention," Woestman said. "This will allow us to allocate resources better and assign extra staff members for targeted intervention better at younger ages.

A number of factors have played into the success at East High School, said Principal Patrick Enright. Those include great teachers, great students and increased efforts in reading and math instruction.

English teachers are applying new classroom strategies to help students build vocabulary and comprehension development. Math instructors are urging students to take more challenging classes at younger ages.

The result is a sense of pride and achievement that fuels further success.

"It makes the students proud, and the teachers and the parents," Enright said. "There's pride in their efforts and reason to work hard."